All the Devils' hottest news, from notes to numbers to neutral-zone traps

Thursday, February 27, 2014

When the Devils begin tonight their most important stretch of their season with a pivotal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, they will have two rookies dressed on defense with 22-year-olds Eric Gelinas and Jon Merrill getting the call while veterans Anton Volchenkov and Peter Harrold sit as healthy scratches.

Center Jacob Josefson will also be a healthy scratch.

Devils coach Pete DeBoer said the decision to go with Gelinas and Merrill over a veteran such as Volchenkov, who is fully recovered from a lower-body injury that kept him out before the Olympic break, reflects the team's need to create more offense.

The Devils worked in the last week of practice on ways to create more offense and one of those ways is to get the defensemen more involved.

“We’re trying to stretch the ice, create a little bit more room,” DeBoer said. “We’re going to work on that or we have been working on that. We’re trying to get our D a little more active supporting the rush. We’re trying to find some more offense there. They’ve been good at providing offense for us. We need a little more. Our lineup tonight, I think, reflects that with Gelinas in and a Volchenkov out. And just working in the offensive zone and getting more pucks and bodies to the net.

“I think the one stat that jumps out at you is our shots for a night. I think we’re a good possession team offensively. We don’t get enough pucks to the net and we’ve got to do a better job of that.”

The Devils allow the fewest shots in the league with an average of 25.4 per game, but also rank last in the NHL in shots per game at 26.1

Volchenkov said he is “ready to play.”

“Maybe they (want) to be a little more offensive for today,” he said. “But there’s still lots of games left.”

Providing offense has been a strength for Gelinas, who is tied for third in the NHL among rookie defensemen with 22 points (six goals, 16 assists). The Devils sent him down on Jan. 31 to work on the defensive side of his game, which had slipped after a strong start.

DeBoer is hoping the time Gelinas spent in Albany will help him now.

I think like all young defensemen he drifted a little bit in parts of his game. I think he recognized that. He went down to Albany and all the reports out of there were that he fixed some of those things and I anticipate – I’m hoping – we’ll see the same guy we saw the first 15, 20 games he played up here where he had a great combination of offense and was very reliable defensively.”

Although Gelinas played only five games during the time he was with Albany – he was not eligible to play in the AHL for most of the Olympic break because he was on the NHL roster for too many days – he believes that time was helpful to him and hopes that the work that he did on his defensive game will show.

“I was really working hard on staying defense first in the American League, so I’m looking forward to showing that in the NHL game,” Gelinas said. “I went back to basics and I’m a simple player and I have to be simple here too. I can’t get out of my game and try to do something I’m not able to do. So, I’m really going to try to stay simple here.”

Playing the simple game and being responsible defensively doesn't mean that Gelinas can't still help offensively as well, particularly on the power play, which went 0-for-12 after he was sent down. Gelinas' shot can help there and at even strength it's about knowing the right times to get involved.

“I think the biggest thing is being responsible and being smart, picking my spots to go on the offense and not trying to do too much,” Gelinas said. “What I do best is put the puck on net and try to create some offense that way, so I’ll try to help the team that way. ... Every time I get a chance I get a chance to shoot the puck on net, that’s what I’m going to try to do and I think Pete said a couple things that he wanted us as a D corps as try and I’m going to try to focus on that as well.”

Gelinas knows that if he takes care of his own end, his offensive skill and instincts will take care of themselves.

“I don’t think you can take that away from my game,” Gelinas said. “I think it’s really mentally I have to be sharper and smarter about my decisions, but when I get a chance I’m going to try to score some goals or create some offense that way.”

Gelinas and Merrill will be paired together again tonight as they were at times earlier this season.

“We’ve had some good games together and I think if we help each other and get open for each other it will be fine,” Gelinas said.

DeBoer does not think it’s at all surprising that he’s turning to two rookie defensemen at this critical point in the season.

“I think we knew coming into the season that there was a depth of quality defensemen in this organization,” DeBoer said. “I think they’ve probably come along a little quicker than we anticipated, some out of necessity because of need and also some because they’ve grabbed their opportunity and haven’t allowed us to take them out of the lineup. I’m not surprised by anything. This is the NHL and you hope for those type of surprises.”

***Here's the Devils' complete lineup for tonight with the expected line combinations and defense pairs:

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.